Funk phenomenon - Page 2

Left to right: Tom Thump, Damon Bell, and DJ Centipede of Friday weekly Loose Joints at the MakeOut Room

PHOTO BY KEENEY + LAW

The core trio of DJs at the heart of Loose Joints is a wild combination, rotating rapidly behind the tables. Founder Tom Thump digs deep into the wide-ranging, rarity-seeking global funk scene that brings to mind great DJs like Greg Wilson and Gilles Peterson (especially Peterson's Brownswood Recordings project). Damon Bell reps Oakland's fantastic, proudly abstract Deepblak techno scene, with a soulful Afro-Cuban twist. (Don't sleep on his "multiple mind-space" Kush Musik series on Deepblak Recordings, www.deepblakmusic.com.) And DJ Centipede, who helps put on the headiest club going right now, Change the Beat (Tuesdays, 9 p.m., free. SOM, 2925 16th St., SF. www.som-bar.com), brings a future bass and experimental low-end background to the proceedings. Somehow they average out into a completely accessible and danceable entity.

"We are a strange triumvirate," Thump told me. "I planned that, it was by design. I've known Centipede for years, when he used come into [Haight Street record store] Groove Merchant. So talented and unique. And I saw Damon play at [now-closed Panhandle club] Poleng one night a few years ago and was blown away by his soulful tunes. We are just one of my serendipitous flights of fancy."

"Loose Joints" itself is a sly wink toward the experimental-made-accessible, a name cribbed by Damon from left-field dance music hero Arthur Russell's popular side project, which put out the 1980 hit "Is It All Over My Face." It also refers to the loose style the trio applies to mixing their vinyl cuts. (They leave other, more elevating interpretations to the imagination.)

The party is put on well from a practical standpoint, although the MakeOut Room's layout is a bit strangulating near the door and it could use another person or two behind the bar. Because the MakeOut hosts live acts earlier in the evening, you'll encounter a thrilling grab-bag of leftover patrons. The crowd is comfortable and open, dancing itself into frenzy. (When I dropped by last month, there was a gaggle of super-hot boys and girls grappling each other woozily to the floor, which was just fine. But watch where you step.) The strip of 22nd Street between Shotwell and Valencia has really taken on a European plaza air of late, with several bars and cafes spilling over with exuberant sophisticates. We need to ban cars there. And there's also a healthy dose of newbie tech types — including the one in front of me in line who couldn't believe the door guy wouldn't take Visa for the $5 cover.

"San Francisco is so fucking beautifully diverse, that's why the party goes so hard," Centipede told me. "All types of life dancing to the same bassline." Thump said: "There are a lot of people into funky sounds right now — from 1960s girl groups and Latin disco to post-punk and newer Afro-electro. We're here to give all those a push. A sexy push."